Block printing and/or ink stamp pads have been in existence for many years going back to linoleum block printing of drawings or figures for illustrations in books, etc. However, block printing of more than a single color has always been a complicated and tedious process. The design is formed on the block by cutting away or otherwise removing portions of the block surface where ink is not desired and the remaining raised portions will receive ink from a roller or ink pad applied to the block. The block with the ink thereon is pressed down onto the paper or like material to receive the image and the ink is transferred thereto. Depending on the skill of the printer in forming the design, images formed on the block and/or rubber stamps have become more intricate and can be more easily worked with respect to the final image, and have thus improved the process.
More recently, rubber surfaced rollers with multiple repeating images have come into use where a string or line of images are to be transferred onto an article, such as footprints, musical notes or other repeatable figures. However, these figures are still used with only one color of ink to be transferred from the ink pad onto the article receiving the image. With colored pencils or, more recently, felt tip marking pens, cutouts or blank spaces in a design can be colored in after the image outline is transferred to the article and the ink has dried.
A problem arises where multiple colors are desired for the final image. The use of colored pencils or felt tipped markers is one solution to the problem, however, this again is a slow and tedious process. It may be desirable to utilize various colors of ink to provide a multicolored image from a series of blocks or stamps. Where such an image is desired, a major problem is the registration of the multiple images so that the colors do not overlap but present a completely defined image of the final design. One way to do this is to provide a multiple colored ink pad so that various portions of the image will be in the different colors of the color portions of the ink pad. Another method of providing the multiple colors is by hand positioning of the blocks or stamps with the different colors of the image, however, where a substantial number of articles are to be printed with the same image, the skill of the operator to reproduce the same image with the proper colors on each article becomes critical. It would be highly desirable not to have to rely on the skill of the operator for the proper registration of the various colors of the images if a large number of the multicolor images are desired. A further method of producing the multicolored image would be to use a rubber stamp and markers of the various colors to ink the various portions of the stamp surface with the colors, and then press the stamp on the article receiving the image. Again, for a large number of articles, this method would very slow and laborious. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for the accurate reproduction of multicolored images with complete registration of each color of the image which is transferred onto the article receiving the final image.